Crawford wins on controversial TKO over Khan

Terence “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) continued his boxing dominance in the welterweight division by beating Amir “Killer” Khan (33-5,20 KOs) to retain his WBO Welterweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York City Saturday night.

While the ending of the fight is one that will leave a lot of people disappointed, the train that has Crawford as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport kept on rolling.

The fight started with Crawford establishing his ability to counter early, and it worked to perfection leading to a first round knockdown with a left near the end of the round.

.@terencecrawford with the first-round knockdown!!!!! #CrawfordKhan pic.twitter.com/vbe4kemFed

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) April 21, 2019

From the moment Khan beat the count to get back up, he was not the same fighter who stepped into the ring. Crawford to continue to take advantage in round two, as well, but Khan was able to regain himself and was able to land a solid combination to close out the round. However, from there on, Crawford was in complete control, exclusively using his ability to counter off Khan’s pressure seemingly at every step of the fight.

This bout bizarrely and mercifully came to an end at the beginning of round six, when Crawford hit Khan with an accidental low blow left hook just below the belt line at Khan’s right upper thigh. At first, it seemed like Khan was going to walk it off and take the usual five minutes to regroup as customary for low-blows.

Then, referee David Fields stated that the coach (Khan’s trainer Virgil Hunter) had stopped the fight. With the battle pretty much finished and having to go to the scorecards, it seemed to be academic from there, as Crawford was announced the winner by technical stoppage.

Amir Khan vs Terence Crawford scorecards: Brit getting destroyed by judges before controversial TKO https://t.co/HMZyujL1Bt

— The Sun – Boxing (@SunBoxing) April 21, 2019

For the main event of a fight on pay-per-view with a price tag of $69.95 to end the way it did was confusing, but Khan after five rounds wasn’t going to keep up with Crawford. It was apparent to those watching at home, Madison Square Garden, and most importantly, the judge’s scorecards.

Khan said after the fight, “I now know why Terence is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.”

To everyone that was watching the fight, it would be hard to argue.